By Neta, founder of SortMyDivorce · Published · Updated
One full year in New Brunswick before filing, and a year of living apart if you rely on the separation ground. New Brunswick has no legal separation status.
Divorce in New Brunswick runs on federal divorce law plus the province's own Marital Property Act — and New Brunswick's status as Canada's only officially bilingual province shapes the court process in ways worth planning for.
| Residency requirement | You or your spouse must have lived in New Brunswick for at least one full year immediately before filing (a federal Divorce Act requirement). |
|---|---|
| Grounds | The only ground is breakdown of the marriage, shown by: (1) living separate and apart for 1+ year — the ground almost everyone uses, (2) adultery, or (3) physical or mental cruelty. |
| Waiting period | One year of living separate and apart if relying on the separation ground; you can file before the year ends, but the judge won't grant the divorce until it's met. Cruelty/adultery grounds don't require waiting a year. |
| Legal separation | New Brunswick has no legal separation status and issues no separation document. You are separated once one spouse decides the relationship is over and acts on it, and you can be separated while living in the same home. A separation agreement is a private contract. |
| If you were never married | The Marital Property Act reaches unmarried couples only where they agree it should. There is no automatic property division for common-law partners, and a common-law partner does not inherit on an intestacy — that takes a will. |
| Where you file | Court of King's Bench of New Brunswick, Family Division. You file the petition with the Registrar in Fredericton — New Brunswick uses a central divorce registry, not your local courthouse (Rule 72.04(1)). Your case is then heard in the judicial district where you or your spouse habitually resides (Rule 72.17(1)), and the trial record is filed with that district's Family Division court administrator. |
| Filing fee | Payable when you file the Petition for Divorce or Joint Petition for Divorce. Set by regulation and revised from time to time. A fee waiver is available if you cannot afford it. Filing fees are set by the court and change without notice: check the current schedule on the court's own website before you file, and ask about a fee waiver if the cost is a barrier. |
| Starting forms | Form 72A (Petition for Divorce, for one spouse applying) or Form 72B (Joint Petition for Divorce, for both applying together); Form 72J (Financial Statement) if support or property is claimed; Form 72C (Notice of Petition for Divorce) for serving the other spouse. |
| Simplified option | Yes — a Joint Petition for Divorce (Form 72B) when both spouses agree simplifies the process, and New Brunswick Courts point people to the self-help handbook 'Doing Your Own Divorce in New Brunswick' (via PLEIS-NB) for uncontested cases without a lawyer. Note: only married couples can get a divorce — common-law/de facto partners who separate are governed by New Brunswick's own family property/support law, not the federal Divorce Act, and don't go through this court divorce process. |
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Divorce itself is federal (the Divorce Act applies everywhere in Canada), but property division in New Brunswick is governed by the provincial Marital Property Act, which generally presumes an equal division of marital property between married spouses. Marital property broadly includes assets acquired during the marriage and, notably, the matrimonial home — which can be treated as marital property and shared equally even if one spouse owned it before the marriage or it would otherwise count as excluded property. That home rule surprises people, so if a letter references 'the house' as automatically off the table, confirm that with a local lawyer rather than assuming.
One important distinction: the Marital Property Act applies to married spouses. Common-law partners in New Brunswick are not automatically covered by the same property-division regime, and their property claims typically rest on other legal doctrines. If you're separating from a common-law partner, the preparation steps below still apply, but confirm early which legal framework actually governs your property situation.
New Brunswick is Canada's only officially bilingual province, and its courts reflect that. Family matters are handled by the Court of King's Bench of New Brunswick, Family Division, and proceedings can generally be conducted in English or French, with parties able to choose or request the language they're most comfortable working in. If you and your spouse received a letter or filed document in a language you don't fully follow, that's worth flagging early rather than guessing at its meaning.
In practice this means paperwork, correspondence from opposing counsel, and even court forms may arrive in either official language depending on who's involved. Confirming translation needs and the language of the proceeding at the outset avoids confusion later, especially around deadlines stated in a letter you may not have read as carefully as you thought.
New Brunswick's financial disclosure expectations mirror the general Canadian pattern, and being organized early is a genuine advantage. Start collecting: three years of tax returns and notices of assessment; recent pay statements; statements for every bank, investment, RRSP, TFSA, and pension account; documents on the matrimonial home and any other real property, including mortgage statements and assessments; and corporate financials if either spouse owns a business. Given the matrimonial home's special treatment under the Marital Property Act, keep clear records of when it was acquired, by whom, and any money one spouse put in before the marriage — that history matters more here than in provinces without this rule.
Keep every letter from lawyers or the other side from the start. That correspondence becomes the record of who proposed what, which deadlines were set, and what was actually agreed — particularly important if documents arrive in a mix of English and French and details can get lost in translation.
Child support in New Brunswick follows the Federal Child Support Guidelines, based primarily on each parent's income. Shared parenting time doesn't automatically eliminate support; a set-off calculation between the two parents' guideline amounts is the usual starting point. Parenting arrangements are decided based on the best interests of the child, and a specific, workable schedule proposal tends to go further in negotiations than a vague one.
There is nothing to apply for. Outside Quebec, no Canadian province has a legal separation status — no form, no court process, no certificate. You are separated once one of you has decided the relationship is over and has begun acting on that decision, and only one of you needs to have reached it.
You do not have to be living at different addresses. Couples can be separated while still under one roof, provided they are no longer living as a couple — no longer sharing a bed, meals, finances or a social life as partners. Where moving out immediately is not affordable, this still counts.
What people usually mean by getting legally separated is making a separation agreement: a written contract covering property, support and parenting. It is not a court order but it is binding. The separation date matters in its own right — it starts the one-year clock for a no-fault divorce under the federal Divorce Act, and it is generally the date family property is valued — so be able to evidence when it was.
New Brunswick's Marital Property Act — the statute this page describes for married spouses — does not reach common-law couples of its own force. It can apply to unmarried partners in certain situations, principally where the couple has come to an agreement that their property should be divided under it.
Absent that agreement, the default is that each partner keeps what is in their own name. There is no equal-share presumption and no automatic claim on the family home. A partner who contributed to property held in the other's name is left arguing general principles such as unjust enrichment, which is slower, less certain and more expensive than a statutory right.
The gap extends past separation. If one partner dies without a will, only legally married spouses and biological or adopted children inherit on an intestacy in New Brunswick — a common-law partner does not. If you intend your partner to inherit, that has to be written down.
1) Confirm whether the Marital Property Act applies to your situation (married) or whether a different framework governs your property claims (common-law). 2) Assemble your financial disclosure binder early, paying particular attention to the matrimonial home's history given its special treatment. 3) Decide your preferred language for the proceeding and flag any documents you've received in a language you're less comfortable with. 4) Get independent legal advice, even a single consultation, before positions harden. 5) Track every deadline any letter sets, in whichever language it arrives — a missed date can shape how the rest of the process unfolds.
Make sure you or your spouse has lived in New Brunswick for the past year, and identify your ground for divorce — for most people that's one year of living separate and apart.
If you and your spouse agree on the divorce and related issues, you can file together using Form 72B (Joint Petition for Divorce). If not, one spouse files alone using Form 72A (Petition for Divorce).
Fill out the Petition (72A or 72B), and add Form 72J (Financial Statement) if you're asking for child or spousal support or a division of property.
Submit your petition to the Registrar at your local Family Division courthouse and pay the filing fee (payable to the Minister of Finance), or apply for a fee waiver if eligible.
If you filed alone, you must formally serve your spouse with the Notice of Petition for Divorce (Form 72C). They then have a set period to file an Answer (Form 72D) if they wish to respond.
If no Answer is filed and the case is uncontested, you can move the file toward judgment once the response period passes and, if relying on separation, once the one-year mark is reached.
File a Request for Divorce (Form 72K) so a judge can review the file and, if everything is in order, grant the Divorce Judgment without a court appearance in most uncontested cases.
The divorce takes effect 31 days after the judge grants it, unless someone appeals — this is a fixed rule under the federal Divorce Act, not something the NB court can shorten except in limited special circumstances.
Once the judgment is effective, apply to the Registrar for a Certificate of Divorce (the current amount) as proof of your divorce, for example if you plan to remarry.
Two layers. The divorce itself comes from the federal Divorce Act, which applies across Canada and normally requires a year of living separate and apart. Dividing what you own is provincial and runs on New Brunswick's Marital Property Act. Applications go to the Court of King's Bench of New Brunswick, Family Division, and one spouse must have lived in the province for a full year before filing.
The Marital Property Act presumes each spouse is entitled to an equal share of marital property — broadly, the assets the family used together — and an equal share of the debts. It is a starting point rather than a guarantee: a court can depart from an equal split, and spouses can agree different terms in a domestic contract.
Under the Marital Property Act, the matrimonial home is generally treated as marital property and shared equally between married spouses, even if one spouse owned it before the marriage. Confirm the specifics of your situation with a local lawyer, since exceptions can apply.
Generally no — the Act applies to married spouses. Common-law partners typically rely on other legal principles for property claims, so confirm which framework applies to you early.
Yes. New Brunswick is officially bilingual, and family court proceedings before the Court of King's Bench can generally be conducted in English or French. Confirm your language preference and any translation needs early in the process.
You do not file anything. New Brunswick has no legal separation status and no separation certificate — you are separated as soon as one spouse decides the relationship is over and acts on that decision, and you can be separated while still living in the same home. What most people mean by getting legally separated is signing a separation agreement, a private written contract covering property, support and parenting. The separation date starts the one-year clock for a divorce and is usually the date family property is valued.
Not automatically. New Brunswick's Marital Property Act applies to unmarried couples mainly where they have agreed that it should — there is no default equal-share rule for common-law partners, and no automatic claim on the family home. Without an agreement each partner keeps what is in their own name and any further claim rests on general principles such as unjust enrichment. A common-law partner also does not inherit on an intestacy in New Brunswick, so a will is necessary if you intend them to.
If you are in immediate danger, call 911. New Brunswick has no province-wide 24/7 intimate partner violence line at the moment — CHIMO closed in 2025, and its old number is still circulating, so ignore it. Call 9-8-8 for crisis support in English or French, or 2-1-1 to reach a local transition house. Sexual Violence New Brunswick runs a 24-hour line at 506-454-0437. ShelterSafe (sheltersafe.ca) maps shelters across Canada.
Last reviewed August 2026. Researched and written by Neta, founder of SortMyDivorce. I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice — laws, fees and forms change, so please confirm current details with the official sources above or a local family lawyer.
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